Javier Robayo (author of THE GAZE) steps in to review PGB: "SHE"S DONE IT AGAIN!"

Javier Robayo, author of this spring's smash hit, THE GAZE, has generously offered his review of my latest short story in The Coffee Break Series. If you've ever read his debut novel, you know that his insights are deep, thoughtful, and usually spot on...especially if he's singing my praises! This is more than just a review of PGB, it's an open invitation to enter MY world, where the unusual and the eccentric are celebrated, much like a Quentin Tarantino film...or so I've been told by Mr. Robayo.


About PGB:
Is it true that one event can alter a person's life? After Samantha's car is broken into, the world around her no longer feels safe. She makes some drastic lifestyle changes, but three years and a thousand "plan B's" later, has she taken it too far? Yes, according to Lara, the only friend that hasn't yet given up on Samantha. The day that Lara tries to finally knock the rituals out of her is the day that PGB shows up. Will PGB be the one event that changes Samantha back to her old self? The laughter continues in the third installment of The Coffee Break Series. Follow Samantha as she copes during a day filled with speed bumps and challenges she doesn't normally encounter in the confines of the controlled environment she's created for herself.



Javier Robayo's Review:
CF Winn takes the reader on another fast-paced, whiplash-inducing ride that throws you right in the thick of things. It reads as a commentary on life itself and our constant battle to control our circumstances depending how one filters it, and it also reads like a literary challenge. If you're the kind of person who's blessed with linear thinking, I'm afraid you'll miss many of the subtleties within the mind of this unique author. But if you're able to multi-focus and open your mind to each strand of this fun ball of literary yarn, you'll get so much more than you bargained for. The sly references to the other members of The Coffee Break Series, Kafe Castro, and Moore than Meets the Eye, are masterfully weaved in, bringing a smile to your face and enticing you to read them again. CF's writing voice is one in a trillion and these shorts make for a better pick me up than a cup of espresso. Can't wait to see what CF will come up with next!

MORE GREAT BOOK CLUB PICKS BY INDIE AUTHORS: 

SUKI:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2013/06/summer-reading-book-club-week-1.html 


WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2013/06/friends-dont-let-friends-read-alone.html?showComment=1430071350264

MY TWO FLAGS: 

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2013/07/i-am-master-of-my-words-captain-of-my.html?showComment=1430071350264

OCTOBER SNOW:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/06/life-is-like-blanket-of-snow.html?showComment=1430071350264

TRAILER TRASH, WITH A GIRL'S NAME:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/10/you-know-youre-modern-day-trailer-trash.html

MOORE THAN MEETS THE EYE:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/09/theres-always-another-story.html

WELCOME TO HEIDI:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/06/welcome-to-must-read.html

KAFE CASTRO:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2013/08/why-are-you-so-serious-do-it-kafe.html

BROKEN ANGEL:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2012/09/broken-angel-review.html

DEJA DREW:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2012/08/deja-drew-excerpt.html

THE GAZE:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2012/05/gaze-by-javier-arobayoyay-or-nay.html

HAUNTED HOUSE, HAUNTED LIFE:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/10/haunted-house-haunted-life.html






CF Winn is the award-winning author of The COFFEE BREAK SERIES, a hilarious group of short stories meant to be read while on break or in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Her first novella, SUKI, has been grabbing hearts and hugging souls all over the United States.

You can now order SUKI in paperback at BOOK REVUE, one of the nation’s largest independent bookstores, by email at info@bookrevue.com or by calling (631) 271-1442.
Learn more about SUKI at BOOK REVUE http://www.bookrevue.com/localauthors.html

KIDS TODAY

One day, a few years ago, I picked up my daughter from school. She immediately handed me a note. She hung her head and said, "The teacher told me to give you this."

It said:
DEAR, (long space) MRS. WINN
ISABELLA WAS RUNNING IN THE HALLS TODAY. WE (who is "we"??) WANTED TO WRITE AND TELL YOU THAT SHE IS A BAD GURL.
LOVE,
MRS. SLOMAN

It was written in my 7 year old daughter's handwriting......


     ----------------------------------------------------0---------------------------------------------------------

I was playing colors/shapes BINGO en espanol with my Preschool and Kindergarten students, when I noticed one of the kids slip something into his mouth and begin chewing. I immediately flew over to his seat and stopped the game when I asked him what was in his mouth. He shook his head while saying nothing. Again I asked and he silently shook his head, a little more forcefully this time. Worried that he was going to choke on a small button or something, I got a paper towel and told him to spit it into the paper. He did so without resistance, and when I looked for the object of the controversy, I saw a green boogie....


CF Winn is the award-winning author of The COFFEE BREAK SERIES, a hilarious group of short stories meant to be read while on break or in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Her first novella, SUKI, has been grabbing hearts and hugging souls all over the United States.

You can now order SUKI in paperback at BOOK REVUE, one of the nation’s largest independent bookstores, by email at info@bookrevue.com or by calling (631) 271-1442.
Learn more about SUKI at BOOK REVUE http://www.bookrevue.com/localauthors.html

FULL VOLUME

I was in the store today when I heard a loud talker. You know the type. Nothing in their lives is off limits, and when someone uses the phrase, "INSIDE VOICE" to one of them, all they hear is those garbled grown-up sounds from the PEANUTS holiday specials.

My loud talker was in the pharmacy picking up only HALF of her prescription. According to her bellowing, it was very expensive and the rest of it "could just sit"... I was very surprised when I heard the pharmacist agree to a partial pickup.

The entire staff talked to her in hushed tones. Maybe they were hoping to lead by example.

Anyhow, after she had enough drugs to make her only HALF well, she stayed and began yelling out insults about herself....

"I'll just go and get my fat ass to work now!"

But she stayed.

"The medicine's not going to do any good anyway!"

Still she stayed.

"I'm not very friendly, so most people don't like me anyway!"

My feelings(and ears)were hurt for her, so I left, while she stayed.


CF Winn is the award-winning author of The COFFEE BREAK SERIES, a hilarious group of short stories meant to be read while on break or in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Her first novella, SUKI, has been grabbing hearts and hugging souls all over the United States.

You can now order SUKI in paperback at BOOK REVUE, one of the nation’s largest independent bookstores, by email at info@bookrevue.com or by calling (631) 271-1442.
Learn more about SUKI at BOOK REVUE http://www.bookrevue.com/localauthors.html

BARBIE MY CONFIDANTE

I briefly took a writing class. The assignment was to write about my favorite toy growing up in the form of a poem. Not my forte ...it's a cheesy rhyme.

Audience Applause...please??





BARBIE MY CONFIDANTE

Barbie, Barbie, you were so fair,

Barbie, Barbie, as I brushed your golden hair,

I sat and imagined that your clothes were mine,

Instead of the corduroys that stretched out with time.



My pants, they were tight around my ample waist,

As I dreamt that your boa, around my neck I could paste.

Your tush was so perky and also mad tight,

But I listened to relatives ask me, "Your ass is spreading, right?"



Barbie, oh Barbie, I wouldn't eat for days,                             

Telling Secrets

Hoping that I could kick the fat phase.

Barbie oh Barbie if only I was stronger,

I'd have kept my fingers down my throat a few seconds longer.

A good cleansing was all I would have needed,

To fit a wardrobe like yours, all my shirts lacy and beaded.



I walked down the streets and I heard the cries,

Cute boys stuck their heads out of cars and yelled, "Elephant thighs!"

I never wanted to go out, so I played with you,

My only friend and my confidante too.

I told you my secrets and all of my woes,

Hoping one day you'd wiggle your toes,

Coming to life and without delay, helping me to learn the supermodel way.



Little did I know that

I'd grow up to be curvy, sexy and trim.

Three kids later, I still get called slim.                                         

Unfortunately, the dirty looks and insults still come,

From the frumpy moms in the schoolyard, too sluggish to have fun.

Little do they know that I can relate,

All the while too aware that I'm the object of their hate.



No, I wasn't a teenage mom, and there's no personal trainer,

I just made life choices, one of which was to not be a complainer.

Happiness it seems, is the key,

To what I am now, to what is the new me.

I choose to be happy,

I choose to have fun,

I choose to enjoy life,

And wish you this same sun.

Big thanks to my friend Barbie, unknowingly my mentor and friend,

You'd be happy to know that my lonely, insecure, ugly days have all come to an end.




CF Winn is the award-winning author of The COFFEE BREAK SERIES, a hilarious group of short stories meant to be read while on break or in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Her first novella, SUKI, has been grabbing hearts and hugging souls all over the United States.

You can now order SUKI in paperback at BOOK REVUE, one of the nation’s largest independent bookstores, by email at info@bookrevue.com or by calling (631) 271-1442.
Learn more about SUKI at BOOK REVUE http://www.bookrevue.com/localauthors.html

"THE GAZE" by Javier A.Robayo...YAY or NAY???

Sometimes life seems bigger than we are. If we're not careful, challenges can become problems that loom over us, casting a shadow over the person that we really are, and driving us to do what others would label as just plain crazy.

In Javier A. Robayo's debut novel, "The Gaze", Samantha Reddick, the main character, meets Tony Amaya at a point when he seems to have hit rock bottom in the love arena. The first time she sees him, hunched over a table in the diner she works at, he is sobbing and scrawling his pain across a place mat. Immediately she is intrigued and drawn to him. The two of them are lonely and immersed in their own personal hell, but find temporary comfort in each others arms for a brief weekend. In the years that follow, Samantha is haunted by the memories of their passionate encounter, although she does try to get on with her life. By the time the reader is allowed to catch up with her, she seems to have been almost swallowed whole by her demons, and they begin to take over. This "not so nice" side pushes her to hunt Tony down and friend his wife on Facebook, in the hopes that she will find a way to break them up and have Tony to herself. The phrase, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans" comes to mind as Samantha's idea does not really go as she had hoped.

The book is an unlikely parallel to Samantha's private nature, and the author is careful not to reveal everything at once. As we get to know the story and trust is built, pieces to the puzzle are released a step at a time, and the reader begins to understand why Samantha makes the choices she does.

Mr. Robayo came to the US from Ecuador in 1988, when he was thirteen years old. He didn't know any English, but kept diaries of his experiences as he learned. "The Gaze" is so well written that not only can you NOT tell that English is his second language, but the reader easily gets lost in the story and forgets that anyone but these characters exist.

Readers Beware! Emotions will run high! I found myself so caught up in the drama that I bobbed and weaved through laughter, anger, frustration, and hope. Javier A. Robayo does his job so well that it was easy to root for Samantha to clean up her act while simultaneously wanting to slap some sense into her.

Lewis, the gay bestie from across the pond is a cool drink of comic relief. His one liners like "No, it's the bloody Queen of England" are phrases one might see written across a baby tee or hash tagged on Twitter for all to use on someone not lucky enough to have read "The Gaze", or someone fortunate enough to be "in the know".

The support of Sam's family; Grandmum, Lewis, Alicia, Nathan and Jason Stephen; is admirable. We, as the observers, wish for a safety net like hers; a troupe of loyal, loving people to catch us every time we fall hard, fast, and as often as Samantha does.

Tony Amaya is the man of the hour. In the spirit of writing what you know, Mr. Robayo loosely models his leading man after himself. Both are steel workers, with two adorable young daughters, and a beautiful, loving, and forgiving wife. In fact, Javier's wife graces the cover of "The Gaze", wowing us all with her exquisite eyes, and making all of us "marrieds" long to be so adored by our spouse that we are the object of his life's work.

Readers who are drawn to romance, suspense, and smart writing will be pleasantly surprised by "The Gaze". Every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, I was confronted with the unexpected...and I'm not easily fooled. I've never been so happy to be wrong.

I give this book FIVE OUT OF FIVE BOOKMARKS...one for each of my favorite parts...it was impossible to pinpoint just one.

This book is available at AMAZON in print or via KINDLE
http://www.javierrobayo.com/
or
http://www.amazon.com/The-Gaze-Javier-A-Robayo/dp/1475050062


A few fun facts about Javier A. Robayo,the author of "The Gaze":

1.He's terrified-in danger of fainting petrified-of party balloons, especially if some little kid is hell bent on popping them
2.He screams at the TV during Penguins hockey games...he has no control...over his yelling...or the outcome of the game
3.He happily trades sleeps for writing engaging stories in the hopes of finding at least one person that would enjoy reading his work as much as he has enjoyed writing it...mission accomplished Sir


MORE GREAT BOOK CLUB PICKS BY INDIE AUTHORS: 

SUKI:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2013/06/summer-reading-book-club-week-1.html 


WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2013/06/friends-dont-let-friends-read-alone.html?showComment=1430071350264

MY TWO FLAGS: 

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2013/07/i-am-master-of-my-words-captain-of-my.html?showComment=1430071350264

OCTOBER SNOW:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/06/life-is-like-blanket-of-snow.html?showComment=1430071350264

TRAILER TRASH, WITH A GIRL'S NAME:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/10/you-know-youre-modern-day-trailer-trash.html

MOORE THAN MEETS THE EYE:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/09/theres-always-another-story.html

WELCOME TO HEIDI:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/06/welcome-to-must-read.html

KAFE CASTRO:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2013/08/why-are-you-so-serious-do-it-kafe.html

BROKEN ANGEL:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2012/09/broken-angel-review.html

DEJA DREW:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2012/08/deja-drew-excerpt.html

PGB:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2012/05/javier-robayo-author-of-gaze-steps-in.html

HAUNTED HOUSE, HAUNTED LIFE:

http://simplystick.blogspot.com/2014/10/haunted-house-haunted-life.html

MUSINGS BY PIT BULL

I am the one they call the pit bull. I roll over the blades of grass we call life, like a lawnmower, not worrying if I run into an unusually tall stalk, or a snarl of weeds, waiting to stall my progress. But I also try to know my limitations. Do I really want to damage my sharp blades on a twig thrown unexpectedly in my path? Of course not. But then, I never seem to account for the pebbles; the tiny, almost unseen obstacles that when placed just right, could change things dramatically.
Who knew that something so small could alter my plans so much? I didn’t.


They say that if you’re tired, you should drink coffee. The room spins at the thought and my head is too heavy to lift.

But I can’t handle that; those things that people are always saying – the quotes that always start with, “Well ya know what THEY say…” – I still don’t know who THEY are, but I can tell you that THEY went through an awful lot to gain the knowledge and insight to say all of the things we are constantly repeating today. So when THEY say, “Ignorance is bliss” or “That which does not kill you only makes you stronger”, THEY WERE right, ARE right, and will ALWAYS BE right.

As for me, it wasn’t until I actually had something big to handle that I realized it was true. That I really could get through tough situations…but it wouldn’t be easy…curses! THEY are right again.

The one thing THEY don’t let you in on is that there is always something to handle. It never ends, nor should it, and most importantly, you should never know what’s coming next. If THEY had let us in on that, and word got out, would we crumble before meeting and beating the challenge? Would we cease to surprise ourselves with our courage and tenacity? If that happened, we’d miss out on the greatest gift of all. Those challenges are how we grow and learn the most important lesson of all: Perspective.


CF Winn is the award-winning author of The COFFEE BREAK SERIES, a hilarious group of short stories meant to be read while on break or in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Her first novella, SUKI, has been grabbing hearts and hugging souls all over the United States.

You can now order SUKI in paperback at BOOK REVUE, one of the nation’s largest independent bookstores, by email at info@bookrevue.com or by calling (631) 271-1442.
Learn more about SUKI at BOOK REVUE http://www.bookrevue.com/localauthors.html

ONE YEAR TO.......LIVE

If I had a year to devote to my passion, I wouldn’t quit my day job as a parent. I wouldn’t stop driving my family school bus, cleverly disguised as a Ford. I wouldn't forgoe my daily routines, like creating gourmet Hamburger Helper dishes for my three children. I wouldn’t stop being both Mom and Soccer Coach to them, and I would never bring to an end my attendance at their basketball games or dance recitals.

What I would do is slow down and relish every moment. The next time a woman steps out of her car and says to me, “And the Daddy took the T-bird away”, I would stop to laugh, instead of breaking eye contact and moving quickly to my car so I could rush to the next errand. If I stayed, maybe I could find out why she said it and why she chose to say it to me. This seemingly unbalanced individual could hold the secret to why I am the Pied Piper of the Deranged.

My objective would be to live. I could collect anecdotes from family, friends, and characters on the street. With this new found knowledge, I would try to create a piece of work that speaks to everyone who reads it. The 45 year old woman wearing a ¾ length down coat, and holding her pocketbook while riding a skateboard is probably more interesting than the celebrity that admits herself to rehab. I would weave a tale of desire and necessity in the hopes of changing the population’s perceptions of each other and our planet.

While spending every minute of that year gathering information, and figuring out how to appeal to both the believers and the skeptics in order to open their eyes, ears and minds to their fellow human beings and their environment, I would write something to brainwash the masses.

My tale would be rich with the eccentricities and unexplained of our world. In an amusing and almost subliminal way, I could demonstrate the lack of attention and mistreatment we often inflict on others and ourselves without even knowing it.

Every time we cross the street to avoid the crazy ranting guy mumbling to himself and his invisible friends out of fear of contact with someone a “little different”, we deny ourselves life experience and some entertainment. That unusual encounter can surprisingly manifest into joy and enlightenment. My job would be to keep the reader laughing while learning.

My point is that there are lessons to be learned from others' behavior and our reactions to it. Observing without judgment and taking responsibility for what we bring into our lives are steps toward the type of world we claim to want to live in.

Never expecting to create magnificent miracles like my children again, the best I would hope for is to bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots; the devout and the disappeared.

Creating an engaging story that subtly doubles as a handbook on life would enable me to accomplish one of my few life goals. The rest of my list includes things like making sure my kids see my eyes light up every time they enter the room, visiting the pyramids, and lastly, not dying due to apathy and neglect, all the while muttering the too common phrase, “I wish I would’ve….”

Are you living up to your passion potential? If I’m successful in conveying these ideas in a fun and quirky narrative, and convincing enough to get others to change, maybe you'll get right on that. If you do nothing but struggle through each day, never speaking out, maybe you never will.


 CF Winn is the award-winning author of The COFFEE BREAK SERIES, a hilarious group of short stories meant to be read while on break or in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Her first novella, SUKI, has been grabbing hearts and hugging souls all over the United States.

You can now order SUKI in paperback at BOOK REVUE, one of the nation’s largest independent bookstores, by email at info@bookrevue.com or by calling (631) 271-1442.
Learn more about SUKI at BOOK REVUE http://www.bookrevue.com/localauthors.html